The present invention relates to electronic circuits, and reducing power requirements thereof.
In prior approaches to low power design, power may be minimised via clock manipulation or design for minimal circuit transitions but the fundamental relation of power consumption to frequency is always a continuously increasing function.
Where a circuit is designed with a continuous relationship between power consumption and operating frequency, the architecture must be constructed to meet the upper frequency requirement. Power saving techniques are then applied to the circuit to reduce power consumption across the operating range. Where the circuit is designed to run within a narrow frequency band, this approach gives satisfactory results. However, where a circuit is required to operate over a wide frequency range, e.g. embedded microprocessor core, the architectural strategy applied to meet the demands of high frequency operation restrict the power efficiency of the design at low frequency.
Consider the relationship shown in FIG. 1 between power and frequency for an electronic circuit. For the purpose of this explanation the static power consumption of the circuit is assumed to be negligible with all power consumed by transitioning signal edges. The graph (FIG. 1) shows the power consumption versus frequency relationship for a circuit implemented using two differing architectures. Design A is a high performance approach capable of running at up to 100 MHz and its power consumption rises linearly from zero at DC (0 MHz) up to 10 relative units at 100 MHz. The power consumption can be described as 0.1 units/MHz. Design B has been designed for low power operation and has a lower upper frequency limit of 60 MHz. Its power consumption versus frequency also starts at zero for DC and rises linearly up to its maximum frequency of 60 MHz (0.05 units/MHz).
The present invention provides an electronic circuit assembly comprising clock means for switching a plurality of gate circuits, the gate circuits including a first gate circuit having a first power consumption as a function of clock frequency, and a second gate circuit performing a similar function as the first circuit and having a second power requirement as a function of frequency, and means for switching off one gate circuit and switching on the other gate circuit in dependence upon the intended frequency of operation.
Commonly, the circuit assembly according to the invention comprises a circuit for performing mathematical operations, in particular adder circuits, substractor circuits and multiplier circuits. It is in this type of circuit where power requirements may become excessive when operated at high frequency. Another example is a finite state machine for regulating the sequential operation of an application.
In a preferred embodiment, the first gate circuit is a ripple adder circuit which has a relatively low power consumption but is relatively slow in operation, and the second gate circuit comprises a carry look ahead adder circuit. The upper frequency limit of such carry look ahead generation circuit is higher than that of a ripple adder, but it also requires a significantly greater power consumption in view of the greater amount of logic circuits therein.
The means for switching between the gate circuits may preferably comprise a presettable switch which is preset according to the intended frequency of operation. This gives a circuit designer freedom in selecting an appropriate power consumption for the intended application. Alternatively, an adaptive switch may be employed responsive to the actual clock frequency used for switching between the gate circuits at an appropriate frequency.